This year, we will be featuring a series of posts on the topic of soul care. This is the second in the series. For more resources on soul care, check out our recommended resources page at www.undercurrentsministries.com.
There is a secret place, a holy space. Where a mingling souls rest under a canopy of love. A country of abiding love.
I once heard a man sing that he sought for the country of love and could never find it. He looked for it in the beds of women, in the taste of food, in the exhilaration of adventure, in the work of his craft. And he could never find it. Because the country of love is not of this world. It is the kingdom of God. It is here today, and it stretches into eternity.
Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” So often we hear and perceive these words as if they were spoken with punity or accusation. We hear, “Try harder, be better, achieve this faraway thing that you’ve been told is desirable.” But that is not how Jesus speaks. He invites: “humble yourself, seek to change your current trajectory. There is something better, but you can’t see it as you are.”
A change is necessary to see the kingdom of love and enter it. Jesus isn’t telling you “be better.” He is inviting you into love. A life and experience of love so big that it’s like a whole country. It’s a beautiful place, a place of peace. A place of safety. A place of freedom, beauty, and mingling of souls (your soul with God), utter joy, enjoyment, rest, fulfillment, and goodness.
This kingdom parallels our physical reality, and Jesus invites us to not just be tourists in the country of love. He wants us to live there with him. He wants to take you on adventures of love. He wants to heal you totally. He wants to give you a place of rest and recuperation from this world. And yes, this is an eternal promise, but it is also today’s hope.
As healthcare workers, our souls get so battered and beaten. We are wrung out at work, utterly and completely. We stumble home as shells of ourselves. Body, mind, and soul drained and numb. Where do we go from there? Is there any rest for the weary? Is there any hope in the endless rhythm of twelve-plus-hour shift work?
“Abide in me and I in you.” Abide means to dwell, tarry, linger, drag your feet; to be perpetually present. In John 15, Jesus describes the abiding life in the metaphor of a well-tended vine. The byproduct of abiding is fruit. So often, the fruit is what we focus on, as if that is the treasure. But the fruit is not the treasure, merely the adornments of glory that come from tarrying with Jesus. The treasure of abiding is love.
Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love.” Stop and really think about that for a minute. The Trinitarian love that is shared between the persons of the Father, Son, and Spirit is given to us when we linger with Christ. Unending, unbridled, powerful, passionate, universe-wide, and oceans-deep love. The kind of love that would break you if it were not so very good. And it is so good.
But how does one go about being in God’s presence? And how do we dwell with him perpetually? How do we find the country of love?
This is where work and desire meet. God will give himself to us to the degree that we desire him. Meaning, he will never force himself on you. He puts the ball in your court. Do you want friendship and communion with him? Do you want the depths of you to draw near to his love? Then, firstly, ask for friendship, depth, and communion (mingling of souls). Then comes the action.
Action is necessary because we are so very good at lip service. We habitually say one thing with our words, but our actions prove the contrary. Action is necessary in any relationship. It is by action that a man will date a woman. It is by action that a couple cultivates a marriage. It’s on action that relationships are built, fortified, and rooted into maturity. The same is true with your relationship with Christ. As a Christian, you are already saved, accepted, and loved. However, maturity and growth into a deeper relationship of love require effort. This effort is not burdensome, nor is it a drudgery. As Jesus says in Matthew 15, abiding produces deep joy, a shared joy.
The question you must ask, that Christ asks you, is how will you reshape your life to fit more and more of Christ into it? How far will you go? How much love do you want to discover? Because there is no end to his depths, and if you ask, there is no part of himself that he will hold back from you. He puts all of himself on the table for you to enjoy.
A great first step to abiding in the country of love in Christ is practicing the centuries-old discipline of silence and solitude. This habit creates time, heart, and head space for presence and conversation with Christ. It trains your heart to hear and listen to the still-quiet voice of the Lord. It slows down the pace of your body while relieving you from the constant, burdensome stimulus of the world.
I want to challenge you to try this spiritual discipline this week. Schedule 15 minutes to be alone and in total silence (outside if possible!). You will have many, many thoughts well up, and that is ok. Use your imagination to hand each thought over to Jesus, rather than let yourself chase that rabbit trail. It will be hard. But Jesus will be with you, and the journey into his abiding love is worth the effort.
My dear brother or sister and fellow healthcare worker. The Lord does not want you to be living on the fumes of burnout. He does not want you to merely survive as a shell of who he made you to be. He loves you. He wants you to be fully you, in joy, freedom, and wholeness. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand today. Today, he invites you into his rest, to experience his persistent love, to cultivate roots with you. Today, he invites you into his joy. I hope you will take his offer.
Recommended resources for abiding:
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank Laubach
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith.
Written by Sara Danielle Hill
Sara is a nurse, writer, and founder of Undercurrents Ministries. For more information about Sara Hill and her writing, head over to saradaniellehill.com
